"Come ooooon!" Bella crooned. She sat in the small dorm room she shared with her roommate. Her stomach was against the cheap, armless rolling chair she was able to afford and she spun lightly back and forth while facing her stubborn, shy friend.
"No, I really- I really don't think it'd be a good idea," Mia said. She sat at the edge of her bed on her grandmother's handmade quilt, staring at her hands. Her pink nails stood out against her smooth, ebony skin as she rubbed her wrist slowly. The tips of her frosted, straight black hair tickled her neck and she reached back to run her fingers against her nape while glancing at the clock on her phone.
"Mia, please," Bella begged. "It's the end of the freshman year! You haven't gone to any of the parties and this is our time to get out there and enjoy ourselves! And Jessica's going to be there and you know I hate her. I need you there with me. Please, I'm begging you. You're my best friend and I won't know any of the other girls there. Please, please, please!"
Mia bit her lip. Dusk was beginning to settle around campus and she could hear students laughing and playing on the nearby field. She woke her phone to check the time for the thirtieth time that evening.
It was risky but the college was remote and next to the woods. She woke her phone again and scratched the back of her neck with her trimmed nails while looking through the window. The moon was faint but full, far in the horizon and she blushed at it while quickly looking away, as if catching the eye of a lover.
"There'll be some guys there," Bella ventured cautiously. She hadn't actually
seen
her roommate flirt with any boys and she
definitely
hadn't talked about any but she was fairly certain she liked men. Mostly certain. "But not a lot! It's a smaller party and I know most of the boys going. They're almost all decent."
Hah, boys,
Mia thought bitterly. She'd started calling her vibrator Charles because it'd been years since she'd actually had sex.
Right before the camping trip, actually.
"Look, it'll be fine," the red head told her. She toyed with a few of her fiery curls while searching her roommate's face for a decision or a crack in her defenses. "I'll keep an eye on you and the men and if things look like they're getting out of hand, we'll bounce."
Mia sniffed the air. Her friend was excited and slightly aroused. And smelled faintly of alcohol already. She scratched at the inside of her wrist while avoiding thinking about the issue. The itch was the worst before the rest started.
"Noah's going, isn't he?" Mia accused her friend. "That's why you want to go. Girl, he hasn't even looked your way the whole semester."
"Daisy swears he's single!" Bella said. She leaned back and her impressive cleavage swelled through the gap in her shirt. "Ugh. Yes. Yeah, I want to go because Noah's there and I haven't gotten him alone."
"It hasn't even been a week since Charles," Mia said.
"Fuck Charles," the red head answered. "Come on, yeah, it's about Noah but I really need you there for support. I'm too shy to go by myself. You know I'd just sit in the corner until I lose my nerve. We can still make it before it gets started."
"An hour," Mia told her. "I can only be there for an hour and then I need to go help my parents around the house."
Her parents were her go-to excuse every time she went out for the evening. She was sure her friends thought her parents were invalids or disabled but she didn't care. The worst part was using the excuse when it
wasn't
a full moon, just so she didn't worry about someone making a connection.
An hour was enough time. She'd be able to have a drink, say hello to people so they knew she existed and then be a wing-woman to her roommate.
"Fuck yes!" Bella said, kicking out her legs and spinning in her chair. "And wear something sexy? The black skirt you wore when we out to karaoke? And your gray top. Just stay away from Noah because he's mine and I don't need him falling for my hot roommate."
"You're safe, trust me," Mia said. She sighed in defeat and got up to pull her clothes from the small close in her side of the room.
Maybe I'll even put on some makeup. Not like it'll matter later tonight and it'll feel nice to be checked out for once.
--
Bass thumped from within the large house as Mia looked up for the moon. This late in the evening, she always knew where it was. She wasn't sure if she imagined it or not but the moonlight warmed her skin as if she were tanning at the beach. She reached back to rub her neck but felt nothing other than peach fuzz below her hairline.
Laughter and loud conversations caught her twitching ears as her roommate rang the doorbell. The other girl wore a tight black skirt and a t-shirt that seemed to be vacuum-sealed to her upper body. Her nipples showed even through the lacy bra she wore. She'd argued with Bella about her stockings but the girl hadn't listened and so the fishnet material hugged her calves. The girl's red lipstick completed the look and she'd squawked when Mia had told her she looked like a hooker.
Smells wafted to the slim black girl and she found herself breathing deeply of them.
Men, high on testosterone.